Christian versus not-so-Christian: standing against those who do wrong in the name of Jesus.

CRUELTY AND HATRED DONE IN THE NAME OF CHRIST: it’s nothing new. Here’s a horrifying example —and a story of how standing up against wrongs can cause change:

“They [Spanish soldiers] made a gallows just high enough for the feet to nearly touch the ground, and by thirteens, IN HONOUR AND REVERENCE OF OUR REDEEMER AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES, they put wood underneath and, with fire, they burned the Indians alive.”

This came from an account by a Spanish friar named Batrolome de las Casas, written in 1542. He described in it a multitude of other atrocities committed by Spanish soldiers against native peoples “everywhere I go,” largely justified by the indigenous peoples’ status as heathen.

De las Casas send the account to the King in Spain, who issued new laws against such treatment.

Were they successful? The people who had committed atrocities resisted obeying—but it was a start that over time improved.

Friar Bartoleme appears to have been everything the Christian faith recommends: kind, strong, brave, enduring. I hope his example will help all of us to speak out about that which is truly wrong. Progress may be slow—but good versus wrong eventually gains support, and wins.

To read more, search for “Bartoleme de Las Casas, Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies.” Excellent background on the written account and the history surrounding it can be found on this Wikipedia link.

(originally posted 6/2/21)